Police said there were four or five people in the car when it exploded this afternoon in the district of Torslanda. The local rescue service could only say there were multiple injuries and possible fatalities.

Rescue spokesman Bosse Andersson said the car exploded in a roundabout near a fire station.

He said that when rescuers from the fire station arrived at the scene they found the car "severely demolished".

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.

Located on the country's south western coast, Gothenburg is Sweden's second largest city.